RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: KAZAKHSTAN
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Date
2020-05-11
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Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
Religion is becoming increasingly important in everyday life of ordinary Kazakhstanis, and adherence to all canons of religion is an integral part of life. This research paper examines how free is the practice of religion in Kazakhstan through the dominant religion – Islam. First of all, it is important to understand whether the government is doing well in terms of religious and human freedom rights, because if they are not, it can spill out into underground movement with extremist and terrorist movements in the future. Secondly, findings and knowledge are important to Kazakh citizens because if any of the groups of citizens can not freely exercise their rights as people and as citizens of Kazakhstan, which are given to them by the Constitution will be a big question if Kazakhstan is a democratic and legal state, whose highest values are a person, his life, rights, and freedoms. The paper analyzes the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and other open sources to understand what do government and religious officials do think and say about human and religious rights. In addition, the author collects data by interviewing Muslims in Kazakhstan from different professional spheres. It is helpful to measure, understand, and analyze the previous experience of people in terms of religious rights and freedoms. Finally, Kazakhstan has overall good standing on individual religious freedoms and rights. The Constitution and other Laws secure the rights and freedoms of its citizens. Participants can freely practice the fundamentals of Islam. However, many of the people who practice all attributes of the religion have experience inconvenient situations and closer attention from law enforcement agencies. This is a common issue and some of Kazakhstan’s laws contradict the Constitution and violate religious rights. Moreover, analysis of open sources and interviews prove that Kazakhstan’s leadership perceives popularization of the Islam religion as a threat due to poor understanding of the religion.
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Keywords
Religious Freedom, Kazakhstan, Human Rights